Sharm/Emperor Divers

[steveharriss]

Just back from Sharm and thought I'd share my impressions of Portland Holidays and Emperor Divers.

Portland had me booked into Tropicana Garden Palms which proved to be a good
choice. On an all inclusive basis the deal came in at around £100 cheaper than
the equivalent Thompson Holiday and although I didn't get to sample the food as
often as my long suffering Wife, I can report that if was all of a good
standard. Unusually for Egypt, neither of us suffered any stomach complaints!

Only bugbear was the infrequency of the free shuttle into Naam'a Bay itself. In
fairness the taxis were cheap enough once you'd haggled the price down to
something reasonable. £10 down to £2 one night. Just be determined, you'll get
lots of complaints that you're much richer than them and can afford it but stick
to your guns and get another taxi if they won't negotiate. There is a board with
recommended prices on at the stop but there seems to be little adherence to it
anyway.

The diving. I chose Emperor on the basis of comments on this and other forums
and I was not disappointed. I was particularly impressed by the speed at which
Laura responded to any queries I had whilst finalising my booking. Almost
instantaneously I'd get a reply and the alterations were made. There were
however some slip ups. No Nitrox tanks allocated on the first day, although
there were two on the boat by divine luck! On another day the centre failed to
pick up my buddy from his Hotel and he had to get a taxi in. (This happened to
another diver whilst I was there as well).

The boats were, without exception, clean, well fitted and equipped. Over the
six days diving I went on Marcus, Kastan Sea, and President 3. The Marcus was,
in appearance, the newest of the three and undoubtedly had the best food
selection at lunchtimes but I actually preferred the set up and feel of the
President 3. Much of this was down to the Skipper and his crew. On all the boats
the food was well presented and plenty to feed all the staff and customers on
board.

The top deck of the Marcus was a particular hazard if you had any water at all
on your feet down to the fact it was uncarpeted. I know this is a dry area but
water has a habit of getting everywhere on-board.

Over the course of the holiday I dived with Linda, Claire (Both borrowed from
Red Sea College), Steve, Gary, Denis, Tammi and Dav. All of them gave clear,
factual briefings before we got into the water and looked after us all once we
got wet. I was very impressed with the standard of all of them but, in
particular, I'd like to recommend Tammi and Dav. There was just something about
the dives with them that stood out from the others I did. Mike, who I buddied up
with during the course of the week swears by Terry, and I'm happy to give you
his recommendation.

The initial days diving was done on the gardens, a site we revisited on the day
we did the Tiran reef complex. These dives were fine, a great opportunity to
check out basic skills and get comfortable in hired kit, and gave me my first
sight of a feather ray on the sand right at the end of a hotel snorkelling
jetty!

From thereon I managed to do Dunraven, Shark & Yolanda, Ras Za'atar, Ras
Ghozlani, Woodhouse, and Jackson. I got to dive Shark and Yolanda four times
over the six days, but happily I'd be prepared to do it repeatedly anyway. Ras
Ghozlani popped up twice, and I turned down a third dive there on the last day,
simply so I could make sure my kit was all packed away before we got back to the
Travco Jetty rather than any failing with the site itself.

A special mention for Claire (Turtle Girl) who managed to get the radio
controlled turtles operating so that we saw two of them having a scrap on the
wall at Jackson before one of them joined us for a swim along, and then got a
larger version to graze on the soft corals between Yolanda and the Satellite the
following day. Some going.

The only dives that left me feeling less than ecstatic were Ras Za'atar and
Dunraven. Other divers enjoyed them so don't let me put you off. Dunraven, in
particular, as I had to pay the Ras Mohammed park fees plus an additional cost
of 25 Euros, was disappointing. As a wreck it's really nothing to write home
about, and as a reef dive it's not worth the extra. Go do Tiran again would be
my advice.

Emperor Divers is a professional set-up with excellent staff, and a slick
operation. I'd be happy to recommend them to anybody. My one complaint over the
six days was the low fills on the 15Lt Nitrox tanks. I never once got over 200
bar and regularly got fills of 180 bar, and on one occasion 175 bar. I'm told
they use the barge at the Travco Jetty but intend to change supplier. This
really can't happen too soon for me. The company believes anything under 180 bar
is a low fill, I beg to differ.

Hope this helps someone take the plunge and go dive the Red Sea. I enjoyed it so
much I've booked angain for July so that Dav can show me the sharks. Roll on
July!